1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,420 we're on the record saying that the Logitech G Cloud a handheld console 2 00:00:04,319 --> 00:00:11,519 designed exclusively for cloud gaming sounds pretty dumb the planning for this 3 00:00:09,900 --> 00:00:17,279 must have started before they heard about steam deck holy good luck 4 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:22,920 Logitech so I was pretty surprised when Logitech slid into my DMs with an offer 5 00:00:19,980 --> 00:00:27,660 to sponsor me to promote the device I mean I gave them the usual yeah I'm 6 00:00:25,199 --> 00:00:32,399 interested wouldn't you logitech's check's always clear but I also told 7 00:00:29,820 --> 00:00:37,680 them that I needed to experience it in person before we could move forward and 8 00:00:34,140 --> 00:00:39,719 well I have and short answer it is good 9 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:44,399 enough to accept the sponsorship long answer we didn't accept the sponsorship 10 00:00:42,899 --> 00:00:49,739 which is why this video is brought to you by some other sponsor like PDQ PDQ 11 00:00:47,820 --> 00:00:53,579 makes device management simple secure and pretty darn quick so don't wait 12 00:00:51,780 --> 00:00:58,500 start automating your patch management and software deployment processes with 13 00:00:55,680 --> 00:01:04,860 PDQ deploy and inventory start your free trial now at pdq.com LTT Logitech pegged 14 00:01:02,699 --> 00:01:09,659 me completely wrong here I don't hate cloud gaming and I especially don't hate 15 00:01:07,380 --> 00:01:13,979 handheld cloud gaming I mean I was probably the single biggest advocate for 16 00:01:11,939 --> 00:01:19,680 the original NVIDIA Shield outside of NVIDIA and its entire stick was that you 17 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:23,820 could use it to play Android games but it was at its best when you were 18 00:01:21,299 --> 00:01:27,540 streaming AAA games over Wi-Fi from your desktop gaming rig it was pretty much 19 00:01:25,799 --> 00:01:34,020 the spiritual predecessor to this thing and I absolutely loved it even back then 20 00:01:31,140 --> 00:01:37,380 the latency was really impressive and while image quality lost due to video 21 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:42,720 compression is going to be a challenge for any streaming service game streaming 22 00:01:39,900 --> 00:01:47,460 in particular the smaller the screen the less noticeable any blocking or motion 23 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:54,360 artifacts will be so game streaming to a handheld made and makes a ton of sense 24 00:01:51,180 --> 00:01:57,840 the question then is whether this is the 25 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:59,820 right handheld big black elephant in the 26 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:04,320 room for the Logitech G cloud is of course the steam deck even though it 27 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:09,539 starts at only fifty dollars more valve's handheld packs so much more 28 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:13,260 Firepower that it can not only stream games from the cloud but even render 29 00:02:11,580 --> 00:02:18,060 them locally without an internet connection it also boasts standout 30 00:02:15,900 --> 00:02:21,900 features like haptic touchpads programmable grip buttons and a 31 00:02:20,340 --> 00:02:28,200 consumer-friendly approach to user repair however after spending some time with 32 00:02:25,920 --> 00:02:32,340 both of them I no longer agree with the other reviewers who say that the gcloud 33 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:36,060 should be completely ignored right out of the gate there's actually a lot that 34 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:39,660 Logitech did right here it's only marginally heavier than the OLED switch 35 00:02:37,620 --> 00:02:43,560 from Nintendo with much better ergonomics thanks to having a 36 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:47,220 permanently attached controller and the quality and feel of the Plastics really 37 00:02:45,540 --> 00:02:49,800 highlight logitech's Decades of experience designing human interface 38 00:02:48,660 --> 00:02:54,120 devices the screen has a pleasing color profile 39 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:58,920 right out of the box and is rated at 450 nits which in practice is much brighter 40 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:02,400 than you will ever need indoors and I was also pleased to find things that I 41 00:03:00,780 --> 00:03:05,700 used to take for granted but no longer do like a three and a half millimeter 42 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:10,080 headphone jack next to the bottom mounted USBC charging port and a Micro 43 00:03:07,980 --> 00:03:14,099 SD expansion slot at the top next to the power switch and volume rocker 44 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:18,840 navigating the initial setup wizard then gave me a lot of confidence in the 45 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:20,519 buttons and the joysticks until abruptly 46 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:26,099 my overwhelmingly positive First Impressions ended during setup I was 47 00:03:23,519 --> 00:03:30,360 given an unskippable prompt for 10 cents privacy policy and end user license 48 00:03:27,959 --> 00:03:34,440 agreement it's probably not the worst Eula that I've ever signed and Logitech 49 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:37,980 isn't exactly hiding the partnership given that they've talked about it on 50 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:42,720 their blog but the only hint at tencent's involvement on the product 51 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:44,580 page itself is the subtle grammatical 52 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:50,159 and spelling errors that are sprinkled throughout so I feel like some of my 53 00:03:47,340 --> 00:03:56,099 disappointment is Justified here and unfortunately that feeling carried 54 00:03:51,900 --> 00:03:58,019 through to the interface it's not bad if 55 00:03:56,099 --> 00:04:02,220 all you ever want to do is fire up one of the three pre-installed cloud gaming 56 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:06,599 apps GeForce now Xbox cloud or steam link all of this is likely going to feel 57 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:10,980 like nitpicking it's just that it's kind of obtuse you know like why are my 58 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:16,139 Android notifications under messages instead of pull down shade why does the 59 00:04:14,459 --> 00:04:22,680 touchscreen work to interact with my photo gallery but not my Wi-Fi icon why 60 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:25,680 does it take a colossal 20 interactions 61 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:27,600 and entering my PIN to go from handheld 62 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:30,660 mode to regular Android tablet mode something that you will probably find 63 00:04:29,340 --> 00:04:34,259 yourself needing to do at some point even if it's just to get access to the 64 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:40,320 back button and then while we're at it why the Sam heck does it not have a back 65 00:04:37,380 --> 00:04:44,160 button In fairness to Logitech or realistically 10 cent put pretty much 66 00:04:42,419 --> 00:04:48,300 every game under the sun uses face buttons for both confirm and for bag and 67 00:04:46,860 --> 00:04:52,500 both opening and closing the Quick Settings overlay is intuitively handled 68 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:56,400 with the home button though I wouldn't recommend using the gcloud as an Android 69 00:04:54,419 --> 00:05:01,620 gaming handheld anyway to which you might say what how can an Android Tablet 70 00:05:00,060 --> 00:05:06,180 with a controller bolted to the side possibly be bad for gaming 71 00:05:03,780 --> 00:05:10,680 oh it can to hit their aggressive 350 dollar price 72 00:05:08,759 --> 00:05:16,380 point it is pretty clear that Logitech cut some Corners the Qualcomm Snapdragon 73 00:05:13,500 --> 00:05:21,419 720g that powers the gcloud was targeted at Emerging Markets when it was 74 00:05:18,300 --> 00:05:23,220 announced nearly three years ago and if 75 00:05:21,419 --> 00:05:27,419 you attempt to run anything heavier than casual games you are going to be 76 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:32,220 extremely disappointed one of my personal favorite Android games bomb 77 00:05:29,039 --> 00:05:34,380 squad is a total blast on this thing but 78 00:05:32,220 --> 00:05:38,940 it's an ancient game I used to play it on my original Shield portable try to 79 00:05:36,840 --> 00:05:43,500 play something like fortnite it was an absolute stuttery mess when I tried to 80 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:47,460 run it at Native resolution and that's even ignoring the current lack of proper 81 00:05:45,660 --> 00:05:51,660 Gamepad detection and on-screen control mapping Logitech says they're working on 82 00:05:49,860 --> 00:05:57,000 this but for now that doesn't help me and it was seriously awkward to jump 83 00:05:54,240 --> 00:06:00,539 with the face buttons and then Fire by reaching over them to the touchscreen 84 00:05:58,919 --> 00:06:04,259 since the right trigger wouldn't do anything furthermore while it's not 85 00:06:02,580 --> 00:06:08,400 something that I explored in detail running Android console emulators is 86 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:13,380 snow walk in the park either according to Gary over at the fox it can easily 87 00:06:10,919 --> 00:06:19,199 handle consoles from the 90s but even heavier PlayStation 2 and GameCube games 88 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:22,919 were a struggle for its weak SOC and he often find himself frustrated by poor 89 00:06:21,060 --> 00:06:27,960 controller mapping agree with you 100 their men however there's one aspect of 90 00:06:26,100 --> 00:06:32,460 Gary's excellent and detailed review that I take issue with and I alluded to 91 00:06:30,060 --> 00:06:38,280 this before his recommendation to completely ignore the gcloud and buy a 92 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:43,979 steam deck instead let me explain Logitech has been careful to Market this 93 00:06:40,979 --> 00:06:45,419 device very specifically while they 94 00:06:43,979 --> 00:06:49,199 don't get in the way of running any Android app you want including playing 95 00:06:47,460 --> 00:06:53,100 games or watching great behind the scenes content from our channels over on 96 00:06:50,639 --> 00:06:56,580 Floatplane.com and they are apparently even discussing the possibility of 97 00:06:54,660 --> 00:07:01,160 unlocking the bootloader other than to say that it runs Android 98 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:06,360 11 they make no mention of Android whatsoever on the product page it's for 99 00:07:04,139 --> 00:07:11,100 running Cloud games and for that purpose it's really really good 100 00:07:08,940 --> 00:07:16,139 like the steam deck it packs a large 7-inch display for a big screen portable 101 00:07:13,620 --> 00:07:20,280 gaming experience but unlike the steam deck it's 1080p meaning that your 102 00:07:18,539 --> 00:07:24,660 streamed games will end up looking noticeably sharper than your friend's 103 00:07:22,259 --> 00:07:28,440 locally rendered games and actually even streamed games onto this team deck 104 00:07:26,340 --> 00:07:33,720 because the screen resolution is so much lower and because all game rendering is 105 00:07:31,620 --> 00:07:38,099 being done remotely the gcloud never gets loud or hot I can't stress enough 106 00:07:35,819 --> 00:07:42,900 how much of a difference this makes I would describe the stereo speakers as 107 00:07:40,020 --> 00:07:47,759 pretty darn solid but by far the best thing about them is that I can actually 108 00:07:44,940 --> 00:07:52,919 hear them over the zero other noise that the system is making 109 00:07:52,919 --> 00:07:59,039 it's the kind of quality life difference that might not get captured by a typical 110 00:07:56,940 --> 00:08:03,720 review process which is all about your measurements and your FPS's but it makes 111 00:08:01,740 --> 00:08:07,979 a big difference when you're actually living with the thing and so does the 112 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:11,880 form factor I love the steam deck as much as anyone for real I'm on the 113 00:08:10,380 --> 00:08:16,500 record saying things like it'll revolutionize the console industry and 114 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:20,879 even the broader gaming industry but part of loving something is being 115 00:08:18,539 --> 00:08:25,319 willing to be honest with it and steam deck is kind of cumbersome the size and 116 00:08:23,759 --> 00:08:30,360 weight difference between these two devices is enough that if I had both of 117 00:08:28,199 --> 00:08:33,959 them on my bedside table I know which one that I would grab to lie on the 118 00:08:31,979 --> 00:08:38,700 couch and veg and it wouldn't be the steam deck the last major advantage for 119 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:43,979 the gcloud is battery life Logitech advertises 12 hours and as far as I can 120 00:08:41,700 --> 00:08:47,399 tell they are selling themselves majorly short here 121 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:51,600 it over to the lab where at a screen brightness of 2 which is plenty bright 122 00:08:49,260 --> 00:08:55,019 for indoors it managed five and a half to seven and a half hours in Apex 123 00:08:53,459 --> 00:09:00,480 Legends mobile depending on the frame rate target so far so not that 124 00:08:58,140 --> 00:09:06,000 impressive but then we set it up streaming playing bravery and greed on 125 00:09:02,940 --> 00:09:08,339 G-Force now and we managed a whopping 15 126 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:13,800 hours of battery life that is another huge W for the gcloud 127 00:09:11,279 --> 00:09:19,740 that goes beyond just bigger number better and into my battery anxiety just 128 00:09:17,839 --> 00:09:24,120 disappears compared to my other handhelds of course that doesn't mean 129 00:09:22,260 --> 00:09:27,000 that there's no room for improvement in what appears to be an effort to make the 130 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:31,260 gcloud more comfortable for children they crammed the face buttons so close 131 00:09:29,820 --> 00:09:36,480 to the right thumbstick that I accidentally bump it constantly both in 132 00:09:33,959 --> 00:09:41,160 games and in menus and that isn't even the thumbstick's 133 00:09:38,700 --> 00:09:45,060 worst quality I think Logitech nailed the size of them they're kind of in 134 00:09:43,140 --> 00:09:50,279 between the Nintendo switch and the full-size sticks on the deck but I 135 00:09:47,279 --> 00:09:53,040 cannot emphasize enough how bad the dead 136 00:09:50,279 --> 00:09:57,899 zones are whether we're talking racing or shooting games the absolute last 137 00:09:56,220 --> 00:10:03,899 thing that you want to do on a console that already has anywhere from 50 to 100 138 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:10,740 plus milliseconds of extra input delay is ADD even more input delay it's not 139 00:10:08,519 --> 00:10:15,420 too bad for All or Nothing inputs like in Hollow Knight but it makes fine 140 00:10:12,779 --> 00:10:19,620 adjustments to aim or steering basically impossible if you're attempting anything 141 00:10:17,220 --> 00:10:22,080 other than a casual playthrough I'm waiting to hear from Logitech whether 142 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:27,120 this is something they can fix in software we'll have the answer either overlaid or in the video description but 143 00:10:25,620 --> 00:10:30,600 if it isn't I would recommend steering clear of the 144 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:34,800 gcloud until they've revised the hardware to address it which is a real 145 00:10:32,580 --> 00:10:39,839 shame because that's my only real game breaker here though of course there is 146 00:10:37,380 --> 00:10:46,079 another elephant in the room and that's the cost it's not only designed for use 147 00:10:42,959 --> 00:10:48,180 alongside an existing gaming PC or 148 00:10:46,079 --> 00:10:53,279 monthly cloud service both of which cost money but at the time of writing the 149 00:10:50,220 --> 00:10:55,740 gcloud itself costs over eight times as 150 00:10:53,279 --> 00:11:00,120 much as strapping a Razer Kishi to your phone I understand that that's not an 151 00:10:58,019 --> 00:11:04,560 Apples to Apples comparison your phone's screen is a lot smaller and the gcloud 152 00:11:02,100 --> 00:11:07,380 is Worlds more comfortable but your phone also doesn't turn into an 153 00:11:05,940 --> 00:11:12,839 expensive paperweight if you want to take a break from your monthly subscriptions and use it for something 154 00:11:10,019 --> 00:11:16,860 else making it a much more practical option 155 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:20,399 now I've seen people saying hey yeah I love the concept and if the price was a 156 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:25,500 hundred dollars I could totally justify it but 300 ain't happening the issue is 157 00:11:23,399 --> 00:11:30,120 that the only decent Android tablets that I've seen for 100-ish dollars are 158 00:11:27,420 --> 00:11:33,420 Amazon Fire tablets and those only exist because Amazon can sell them at a loss 159 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:38,579 and make up the difference with the prime subscriptions and other Revenue that they're assuming that they'll 160 00:11:35,820 --> 00:11:43,140 generate Logitech enjoys no such luxury and while we have seen them discount the 161 00:11:40,620 --> 00:11:46,680 gcloud there is no way it's going to make it that low because they need to 162 00:11:45,060 --> 00:11:51,779 make money on every unit or they might as well just cancel the project which I 163 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:56,160 sincerely hope they don't there are some obvious bugs to resolve in the software 164 00:11:53,579 --> 00:12:01,560 like this weird floating error or the inconsistent behavior of back in the 165 00:11:58,260 --> 00:12:04,019 menus but overall I actually do like the 166 00:12:01,560 --> 00:12:08,700 concept and with a bit more on device performance the combination of an 167 00:12:06,779 --> 00:12:12,899 enormous catalog of cheap Android games and outstanding streaming performance 168 00:12:10,860 --> 00:12:15,899 would make this thing a serious Contender for my money because compared 169 00:12:14,579 --> 00:12:22,740 to buying my kids something like a switch now steam deck customers you guys know 170 00:12:19,620 --> 00:12:26,519 who you are and this product isn't for 171 00:12:22,740 --> 00:12:28,380 you but for other people the gcloud 172 00:12:26,519 --> 00:12:31,680 really does bring 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